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The Champion: Frederik Van Lierde

The Belgian's journey to the top of the Kona podium is the result of years of hard work, dedication and patience.

by Kevin Mackinnon

While he might share the same last name as the only other Belgian to win the GoPro IRONMAN World Championship, Frederik Van Lierde's win came through a vastly different path than that of his coach, 1996 and 1999 IRONMAN world champion Luc Van Lierde.

"Luc is the pure talent and I'm the worker," Frederik says of his coach. "It took me a long time to put this together, but he came here the first time and he won it."

Frederik (the current champ) has been competing in the sport for 17 years. Unlike his coach, he hardly burst onto the triathlon scene—his has been a gradual progression. First there was a runner-up finish to Cameron Brown in New Zealand. The first IRONMAN title came by beating Marcel Zamora at IRONMAN France. The 35-year-old would take two more titles in France, along with two huge wins over some of the sport's best at the prestigious Abu Dhabi International triathlon.

Those wins were important, but when it came to Kona, he wasn't as successful. He started out with a DNF in 2008. The next year he managed to get across the line in 42nd. The next year he was 14, and then, in 2011, there was another DNF. It wasn't until he finished third in Hawaii last year that he gained the confidence he could win the sport's most prestigious race.

Since Luc's big win in 1996, a top finish the year before has been a precursor for almost every male champion in Hawaii. (exceptions: Tim DeBoom's win in 2001, along with Normann Stadler's title in 2006 and Chris McCormack's win in 2010 when both withdrew the previous year with bike issues.) Armed with newfound confidence, things fell into place right from the start for Frederik.

"In the swim, normally I'm in the leading group, but I was swimming in fourth or fifth and I felt really comfortable," he said after the race.

Once on dry land Van Lierde gave back a bit of time to his competitors when he put on compression socks. He found himself riding at the back of the large group of riders who rode through the first third of the bike together. But once again, his experience and patience paid off.

"In the first 30 or 40 km everybody is riding fast, so I knew from the other years to just take it easy and wait," he said. "Once we got through 60 k I decided to go to the front a little bit more. When Sebastian (Kienle) went to the front I was the one who reacted, and I was with him up to Hawi."

Van Lierde lost time again at the special needs station when he stopped to get three water bottles, watching as the men around him grabbed a bag with one bottle and kept riding. He found himself riding with three of the best riders in the sport—Tyler Butterfield, Dirk Bockel and Faris Al-Sultan—and eventually dropped them over the last 50 k of the ride as he chased race leaders Andy Starykowicz and Luke McKenzie.

Van Lierde steadily gained on McKenzie through the marathon, catching the Australian heading into the famed Energy Lab and never looking back. Coach Luc's experience and direction from a few days earlier proved helpful over those closing miles, too. On the Monday before the race, Frederik followed his coach's tradition of running the last 10 miles of the course. Six days later he was simply too strong for the rest of his competition through those closing miles, taking the men's title.

The win still hadn't sunk in for Van Lierde at the press conference three hours after he crossed the line, but he had spoken with his wife Sofie and sons Aaron and Simon and realized just how important the win was for them.

"It was a big reward for my family," he said. "We're not in a position where they can travel with me, so there have been a lot of sacrifices."

Frederik Van Lierde's journey to the top of the podium at the GoPro IRONMAN World Championship has been a long time coming. All that hard work paid off, though, with the biggest win of his career.